In recent years, an increasing number of various technologies have been used to improve user engagement with physical objects and scenes, for example using software applications for mobile devices. Such “environment conscious” applications typically retrieve object-related content from an external source (e.g. the internet) and present it to the user. Real-world mobile engagement generally occurs in one of two ways, wherein information content is delivered to the user based on location (“push” interactions), or upon an interaction with an object (“pull” interactions) such that users are granted full control over the information content they consume.
While there are several mobile device positioning technologies available for the deployment of “push”-oriented applications (e.g. GPS, etc.), “pull”-oriented applications are still impractical for many indoor and outdoor scenarios. This is mainly because current mobile engagement technologies have inherent limitations when it comes to directional targeting, operating range, and basic security. Specifically, these technologies either require a short range of operation with Near Field Communication (NFC), a sufficiently large tag to be detected from a distance with a Quick Response (QR) code, or provide information about distance but not direction to object with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication. Image recognition may also be problematic because it typically suffers from high latencies and because objects are not identified uniquely.
For Pull interactions to work effectively in any indoor and outdoor environment, objects of interest should be targetable from users' immediate position without having to approach the objects. The users should also be able to retrieve information that relates to the exact object they target. For example, obtain promotional information about a real-estate project when driving by, or get a discount coupon while watching a billboard ad from a large distance.